The Story of Ruby Evans: The Beginning
by EilsTheDaydreamer
Summary: Ruby Evans' mother is killed when she is 8. She's sent to live with her Uncle part time and Godfather the rest. She's magic, like her parents and gets her Hogwarts letter when she's 11. She goes to Hogwarts and meets her second cousin, Harry Potter, and goes on all sorts of adventures! Rated T 'cause there's mentions of scary violence.
1. The Funeral a New Beginning

This is my first fanfic so please be nice and any constructive criticism is welcomed. This is also on wattpad. I am GryffindorWildcat there. I decided to upload it here too so I could get a wider audience and more feedback. I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it. I am not J. .

**3rd person**

It was a cold morning. A little grey house stood in the middle of a street of houses that all looked the same, but this house looked different. No life could be seen in it. The windows were dark, there were no children playing outside and it was silent.

A little girl stood in the living room, gazing up at the framed pictures on the mantelpiece. They each showed a smiling woman with red hair and bright green eyes and a small girl. Through the pictures the small girl grew from a tiny baby with big grey eyes and tufts of dark hair to the age of about seven with shining eyes, a big smile and glossy black curls. Some of them looked completely normal, but others were strange. Some of the photos moved. The woman rocked the baby or played with the little girl. They were magic.

Tears began to roll down the little girls cheeks as she watched. They were of her and her mother, when they were happy. Mrs Seymour, a woman with sleek brown hair and kind blue eyes, came into the room. She walked over to the small girl and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. After the girl calmed down, she stepped back, wiping tears off her face and smoothing the creases from her black dress.

Mrs Seymour checked her watch and then said, "It's time. Are you sure you want to go, Ruby?"

"Yes, I'm sure," said the girl in a determined voice.

Mrs Seymour looked into Ruby's dark eyes and saw a look in them that wasn't the childish innocence of an eight year old, but the sorrow and wisdom of somebody older. "Alright then," she said, taking her hand. She turned on the spot and both were gone with a small popping noise.

They walked through the gates of a cemetery, holding their coats to them against the bitter wind. They made their way, slowly to where a small group of people were gathered. As they joined the group, a man started talking. "We are here today to celebrate the life of Rowan Fern Evans, a well-loved friend and mother." He kept talking but Ruby had stopped listening. She stared at the light coloured coffin at her feet. White lilies, red roses and the odd poppy covered the top of it. Tears began to flow again, hot against her cold cheeks. She stood in the crowd in the cemetery she had visited many times and felt more lost and alone than she ever had before.

After the funeral, she wandered over to a familiar grave. The marble stone read:

James Potter, born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1981

Lily Potter, born 30 January 1960, died 31 October 1981

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

It was the grave of her mother's cousin and best friend, and her husband. They had been cruelly killed, just like her own mother. She knew they had left a son, who was around the same age as her but had only been a baby when his parents died. Everyone knew him. He was Harry Potter, the boy who lived, after all.

She had only met him once, at a small family reunion that she had gone to with her mother when she was five. He had been there with his aunt, uncle and cousin. He was skinny with messy black hair and green eyes which had been identical to those of both of their mothers. When she had met him, she had just stopped his fat cousin from punching him by giving the boy a sharp slap round the back of the head which made him run away crying. She had played with Harry all afternoon and was sad when it was time to leave. She smiled at the memory and then silently promised herself that she would see her cousin again. He was her only family member, that she knew of, that was anywhere near her age and like her. Ruby Andromeda Evans had a secret, you see. She was a witch, like her mother and father before her.

She quietly lay a snow-white lily on the grave and walked back to where Mrs Seymour was waiting. Mrs Seymour was a kind woman who had been sent by the ministry to look after her at the funeral, help her pack her things and take her to her new home.

Later that day, Ruby stood in her bedroom. She looked around at the pale pink walls and white furniture. She walked over to her notice board and took down the collection of drawings from both her and her mother. She carefully folded them and placed them in the top of a cardboard box that contained some books, toys and other bits and pieces. She heard a noise and looked up to see Mrs Seymour leaning against the door frame.

"All done?" asked Mrs Seymour. Ruby nodded. Mrs Seymour pulled a wand from her coat and waved it at the few cardboard boxes and suitcase. They shrunk until Ruby could pick them up and put them in a small bag. She looked around her room, sighed and walked out the door for the last time. Mrs Seymour repeated the spell on some other boxes around the house and Ruby sorted them into two small bags.

As they were leaving, Ruby suddenly remembered something. She ran into the living room and collected the photos from the mantelpiece. Mrs Seymour shrunk them and Ruby put them in a bag too. She whispered "Goodbye house" and took Mrs Seymour's hand and left Godric's Hollow.

They appeared on a normal looking street, with a row of houses on each side, all with perfect green lawns and neat hedges. It looked like an advert or a movie, so neat and perfect that it looked fake. The woman in the long dark coat and the dark-haired girl in the black looked very out-of-place. They walked down the street and up to the door of number 23. Mrs Seymour rang the doorbell and a tall man with thin reddish-brown hair and a red face answered the door.

"Mr Maurice Evans? I'm Mrs Seymour, Ruby's social worker. I'm here to drop her off and get her settled in. You have no questions about my letter? Good," she said smiling. Mr Evans stepped back to allow them to enter. He took them into the kitchen and introduced them to his wife, Claudia, an ex-model who was a pretty, slim woman with pale blond hair and cold blue eyes and their daughter, Iris, a bony girl around Ruby's age, who was a miniature version of her mother with blonde hair and icy eyes. Ruby stood quietly next to Mrs Seymour and forced a smile as she met her aunt and cousin for the second time in her life. Uncle Maurice was her mother's half-brother and they hadn't contacted each other in years except for small birthday and Christmas presents, so Ruby had only met this family at the reunion where she met Harry. This part of the Evans family didn't have a drop of magic in them and she could tell by the cold looks they were giving her that they liked it that way.

Aunt Claudia took Ruby and Mrs Seymour upstairs to a small room with white-painted walls and a small bed, desk and wardrobe. She left them there to unpack. Ruby took the now tiny suitcase out of one of her little bags and placed it on the floor. Mrs Seymour waved her wand over it and it became normal sized again. Ruby then unpacked one of her bags, which contained some photos, small toys, a sketchbook with pencils and a few books. Mrs Seymour made them normal sized and Ruby arranged the photos on the desk and started to place her belongings around the room while Mrs Seymour filled the wardrobe. Ruby stuck the drawings to the wall by the bed. She then placed her books on the desk and turned to Mrs Seymour.

"You will only be here for a few weeks and then I will come and get you. You know that because of your..." she hesitated and looked uncomfortable for a moment, "condition, you can't stay here all the time. You will spend two weeks a month with your godfather, Remus Lupin and the rest of your time here. You will attend muggle school while you are here and Mr Lupin will help you while you are with him, understand?" Ruby nodded. Mrs Seymour knelt next to Ruby and looked into those sad dark eyes. "Everything will be fine. I have to go now, see you in a week"

Ruby followed Mrs Seymour downstairs as she said goodbye to the Evans family. She watched sadly as Mrs Seymour walked out the door, leaving her alone with a family who she could tell didn't really want her.

She fetched a piece of paper and a pencil from a box under her bed and went to sit at the kitchen table, next to iris, who was watching a small television. Aunt Claudia was busying herself cooking tea and throwing dirty looks at Ruby whenever she could. This was going to be a long few weeks, Ruby thought to herself.


	2. I eat toast and jam

**Ruby's POV**

It was two days after I arrived at the Evans' house and it had been reeeeally quiet and boring. I din't so much mind the quiet, it was better than having Iris around. She's really annoying and ridiculously nosy. Iris walked into my room, where I was sitting at my desk, minding my own business and drawing a picture because there was nothing else to do. Well except read... but I couldn't be bothered at that moment in time.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"My mother," I replied quietly without looking up at her. I hadn't felt much like my normal self lately. It was probably something to do with the fact my Mum had just died. I'm normally much more hyper and crazy.

"Really? She doesn't look much like you."

Don't you think I know that? I lived with her for nearly 9 years, I thought.

"She is but I get most of my looks from my Dad," I said.

"Where is your Dad? Did he die too?"

She's such a nosy, annoying... Just so you know, I didn't really like talking about my Dad. It's not the nicest story. And I was also slightly annoyed at how bluntly she referred to my Mum's death.

"No," I replied.

"Well, why are you here then? Instead of with him, I mean."

"Because..." I really didn't want to tell her the truth. It had been a secret since I was two years old. Not many people knew the truth about who and where my Dad was. "I don't want to talk about it," I muttered, mentally sending "Go Away" messages to her.

"Why? Didn't he want you? Did he run out on you and your Mum? Didn't he love you anymore?" She obviously didn't get them.

"He loved us more than anything," I said, more to myself than Iris. I was starting to get angry. I din't want to talk about it. I had just said that, stupid girl.

"Then why aren't you with him?" Iris asked, a stupid grin on her stupid face.

"BECAUSE HE'S IN PRISON," I shouted, regretting it immediately after. I quickly went back to my drawing, hoping she'd go away.

For a moment the grin left Iris's face, then it crept back up again. "What did he do?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it," I whispered, my face red and tears in my eyes.

"Fine, suit yourself. I'll ask my Dad." She turned away and began examining the room. She walked over and picked up a small toy broomstick from the floor by my bed. "Why do you have a broomstick? It's not a very good toy."

I jumped up and snatched it from Iris's hand. "Careful with that, it was a present."

"It's not a very good one. Who gave you it?"

"My dad," I said quietly. It was solmething he gave me when I was little and it was one of my favourite things. I sat the broomstick carefully on the desk and whispered "Fly."

The broomstick immediately lifted about two inches from the desk and began to fly in small circles.

Iris just stared at it, open mouthed. I grinned at the look on her face. She looked so stupid and jealous. Seeing this, Iris closed her mouth and stormed out of the room, saying, "Well who would want a silly thing like that. Must just be freaks like you."

Haha, jealous much? I though.

Iris didn't bother me for the rest of the time I was there. Yay for me. Finally, the time was up and I packed half my clothes into my suitcase again and waited for Mrs Seymour to come and collect me. I heard the bell ring and was downstairs in a flash. I couldn't wait to get out of here and off to see my Uncle Moony. He's not really my uncle, and his name's not Moony. That's just what I call him. He was one of my Dad's best friends from school and is my godfather. Moony was his nickname at school so my Dad called him that and me and my Mum just picked it up from him.

Uncle Maurice had answered the door and Mrs Seymour stood there with a smile on her face.

"Hello Ruby," she called. "I'll just help you with your things and then we'll be on our way." Uncle Maurice didn't look at all happy to let the witch into his house again. From what Mum told me, Uncle Maurice hadn't liked his step-mother, my Granny, or anything to do with magic, stupid muggle that he is.

Mrs Seymour shrunk my suitcase and I packed it into a small bag with other shrunken objects. I can't wait to do magic like that, I thought. We quickly left with a small goodbye and apparated to a place which couldn't have been more different from the street where the Evans live. I felt a bit nauseous. I hate side-along apparation. It was a pretty dark and dirty street, but I'd rather be there than with Uncle Maurice, Aunt Claudia and the irritating girl (aka Iris).

We walked to number 3, which was slightly less shabby than some of the others and Mrs Seymour knocked on the door. A man in his late twenties, with light brown hair and a scarred face answered. He smiled when he saw me. It was great to see Uncle Moony again. Even though I'd seen him a couple of days before, I'd missed him. "Hello Ruby, nice to see you again. And you must be Mrs Seymour," he said, shaking her hand.

"You got my letter, Mr Lupin? Alright then, if you understand everything, I'll be off. Ruby's due back with her uncle in two weeks. I will check up on Ruby in a few weeks, the ministry will contact you with the date. Goodbye Ruby"

I waved to Mrs Seymour and said goodbye. She turned on the spot and was gone with a soft pop. I turned back to her godfather and gave a small smile as I walked into the house.

"How are you holding up?" Remus asked, as we walked up the stairs.

"Alright, I guess," I answered quietly.

Remus looked at me with one eyebrow raised. "You guess?" He knows me too well.

"No. It's awful. I miss her so much," I said before bursting into tears. Uncle Moony didn't look at all surprised. He knelt down and put his arms around me and I cried into his shoulder for a minute or two. When I had control of myself again, He said, "It'll all be alright in the end, you'll see." I didn't see then though.

Remus took me to the small room which would be my room. It was a little bigger than my other room and was painted a pale yellow colour. Yay, yellow is one of my favourite colours. I looked around. There was a wardrobe, a bed, a desk and a chest of drawers. Also some shelves on the wall for my books and stuff. I like reading by the way. Quite a lot.

"We can redecorate it if you want," Remus said, trying to read the expression on my face and failing.

I turned to him and smiled a little. "No, yellow's great," I said, "It's a happy colour, and Merlin, I could use it."

Remus chuckled softly at that. I unpacked my small bag and Remus waved his wand over the boxes and suitcase so they became normal sized. "Do you want any help?" He asked.

"No, that's alright"

"Okay then," he said and left to prepare for the full moon that night. *Shudder* I wasn't looking forward to that at all.

I hummed softly as I unpacked my remaining toys, art supplies and books then filled my wardrobe. I then sat down to read my favourite book, _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_, and waited for the night to come.

That night, as we were eating dinner, Remus asked, "Do you understand what's going to happen tonight?"

"Sort of," I replied slowly. "I read about it in one of Mum's old defense against the dark arts books, but I didn't really understand all of it."

Remus nodded and glanced at his watch. "There isn't really time to explain everything, I guess the basics will have to do. When you transform, it's quite painful and you'll be very tired after. You won't remember anything during the night. Your mind is taken over and you have no control. You pretty much black out until morning. Because you have no control, we need to be in separate rooms with lots of protective charms on them so nobody gets hurt to badly."

I nodded, "I think I understand."

"Okay, we'd better get ready."

I jumped up and went to my bedroom. I carefully removed my gold locket from around my neck and my small charm bracelet from my wrist then placed them on my desk. The locket was my Mum's and the bracelet was a present from my dad. I loved them both because they reminded me of my parents. The locket's gold and round with a S of a green stone inlay. Mum never really liked the look of it but it's a really old family heirloom. Inside is a picture of me, my Mum and my Dad and also a picture of the Potters because James was my Dad's best friend, Lily was my Mum's. My parents were Harry's godparents and Lily was my godmother. The bracelet is silver with two charms on it, a ruby cut in the shape of a heart and a cupcake with pink icing. Mmm cupcakes. Dad gave me the bracelet when I was born, the heart for my first birthday and the cupcake for my second. There isn't any more because I was two when he went to Azkaban. I changed into an old t-shirt and pair of shorts then went downstairs. I laid a pair of jeans and a top outside the room where I would spend the night and then went inside. Remus stuck his head round the door. "I'm putting up the charms now," he said. "When the sun rises, the charms will break and you can leave the room." He looked at me sadly, "See you on the other side," he said and left. Great way to make me feel better Uncle Moony, I thought.

I turned and looked around the room. It was empty except for an old wooden chair and table. The only light came from a streetlight outside a small window. I walked over and looked at the sky from the window. It was dark and I couldn't see any stars or the moon.

Then I suddenly remembered the bandages on my body. They'd be in shreds in the morning and i didn't have anything with me to replace them. It was gonna ruin the clean top I left outside the door. I pulled of the old t-shirt and threw it into a corner. One bandage covers my right shoulder and another goes from my left shoulder to the right side of my waist. The deep cuts they covered were only a few weeks old...

_*Flashback*_

_We rushed through the woods. Mum kept muttering about how stupid she had been to leave her wand at home and about forgetting what night it was. I didn't completely understand at the time. She glanced at the sky and then sped up a little bit, pulling me along with her._

_Then we heard a long howl. I looked up into my mother's face and saw what I thought was a hint of fear. At this, panic began to rise inside me. What could scare Mum? She picked me up and ran. There was a growling sound behind us. I felt hot tears falling onto my face. I'd had only seen Mum cry a few times before and all of them I had been two years old. The growling was louder, not far behind us._

_Mum stopped and put me down. She knelt down, put her hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. "Listen very carefully," she said, tears still falling from her bright green eyes. "I want you to run as fast as you can, back to the house. Wait there until the sun has come up and then use the floo powder on the mantelpiece to go to Remus' house if I'm not back yet. Understand?" I nodded. She unclasped the gold locket from around her neck and put it around mine. I fingered it for a moment and then looked back up at Mum. She smiled and said, "You're a good girl. I wish you'd had an easier life. I want you to remember that I will always love you." She put her arms around me and I whispered, "I love you too, Mummy." _

_She smiled, "Now go, quickly!"_

_I turned and began to run. There was a loud growl and I looked over my shoulder to see where it came from. What I saw made me stop, open mouthed and staring. A huge wolf was entering the small clearing. It was bigger than anything I'd had seen in my life and was dark grey with bright yellow eyes. I had a feeling it wasn't a normal wolf. I looked up at the sky and gasped at the full moon shining above me. Mum looked over her shoulder when she heard the gasp. "RUN RUBY!" she shouted._

_The wolf pounced and Mum screamed. I stared, frozen with horror at the screams and blood. Then suddenly coming to my senses, I turned and ran. I stumbled through the forest with tears streaming down my face and twigs tangling in my hair. The screaming behind me had stopped and I could hear someone or something following me. I sped up as the noise behind me got closer and closer. My heart thudded loudly in my chest and I heard a low growl behind me._

_Pain shot through my whole body and a scream tore from my throat. The wolf had caught up with me and raked its claws down from my left shoulder, one across my chest and one down my back. I screamed again as it sunk it's teeth into my right shoulder. Pain shot through me again, then something changed. I scratched at the wolf's face with what I saw were claws. The wolf let go of me in shock and I turned and ran away as fast as I could, on four paws._

_*End of flashback*_

Hot tears were running down my face. I sat in the dark and hugged my knees. That was one of the worst nights of my life and I'd had nightmares about it in the month since. It was the night my world was ripped apart. My Mum died and I was bitten. I also discovered I could turn into a dog but I didn't tell anyone.

I glanced out the window again and saw the full moon emerging from behind some clouds. I stood up and walked the middle of the room to wait... and wait...and wait. I heard shouts from somewhere else in the house and assumed it was Moony transforming. So why wasn't I? I looked from the moon, now high in the sky to my body. I was still completely normal. After a while I curled up in an uncomfortable ball on the floor and tried to get some sleep, but I could now hear howls from upstairs.

I shielded my eyes from the light streaming through the window. My body ached all over. I sat up stiffly and blinked, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the light. The house was silent.

With a lot of effort, I stood up. I'm not normally a morning person but that morning I felt especially terrible. I pulled on my old t-shirt and dragged myself back to my room, then I collapsed into bed. I'd never felt so tired. I ached all over and had a pounding headache. I was asleep less than a minute later.

When I woke up, It wasn't as light as when I'd fallen asleep. I looked at my clock and saw it was 2.30pm. My stomach growled. I got up and pulled on some jeans and a clean top. Then I went downstairs to find some food.

I made myself some toast and jam and a cup of tea and sat down at the table. When I was half-way through my toast, Uncle Moony came in, looking very ill and tired, and sat down opposite me.

"Hello," I said brightly, the caffeine in the tea making me feel better. He shushed me and but a hand to his forehead.

"Sorry," I said quietly. He got up and made himself a cup of coffee. Once he'd made it he sat back down.

"How come your so cheerful?" He asked.

"I have toast and jam," I replied, munching my toast and jam.

"You're not tired or ill from last night?"

I chewed some toast and considered my reply. "Well, I'm a bit confused about last night. You see, nothing happened,"

He gave me a strange look. "What do you mean nothing happened?"

"Nothing happened. I didn't transform."

"What?" I shrugged. He thought for a minute, then said, "But you were bitten?" I nodded. "The only cases I've heard of when someone's been bitten and not turned is when the person is already an animagus, but you're too young to be able to do something that complex."

"What's an animagus?" I asked.

"Someone who can turn themselves into an animal at will."

"What, like this," I said, getting up. Remus gave me a strange, slightly curious look. I stood in a space, screwed up my eyes and concentrated. After a moment, I felt my body change. I opened my eyes and looked up at Moony, who had a really shocked look on his face. I laughed at him and it came out as a strange bark noise. I turned myself back, which was much easier, and laughed properly at his face. He recovered from the shock then looked at me with a serious and still slightly curious look.

"When did you discover you could do that?" he asked.

"It's how I escaped that night. That was only the second time I've done it," I replied, going back to my toast. He looked thoughtful

"Well, I guess that's how you're not a werewolf then."

I stopped munching my toast and looked up at him, suddenly alarmed. "If I'm not a werewolf then does that mean I have to live with the Evans full time?"

"I guess so," he replied, looking a bit sad.

"I don't want to! They're horrible!" I cried, feeling close to tears, "Please don't make me!"

"Ruby, I would rather you didn't have to, but if the ministry says you have to then there's nothing I can do," he replied.

I thought for a moment then said, "Well, couldn't we just... not tell them?" I said looking up at him with my best puppy-dog eyes. "I would still get to come and see you then. And I'd go insane if I had to stay there all the time. Iris is horrible and annoying. And I would miss magic type learning too."

He thought for a moment, then said, "Well, I guess you've been through a lot recently. And saying you're an animagus would raise a lot of suspicion about why. But we would have to tell Dumbledore when you go to hogwarts."

"Does that mean we won't tell the ministry?" He sighed then nodded. "Yay!" I jumped up and ran to hug him.


	3. I eat coco-pops (YUM!)

"Ruby, up! Time for school!" came Aunt Claudia's voice through the door.

I rolled over and groaned. It had been a week since the full moon and I'd been back with my "family" for two days.

I was awake until 3am worrying about school that day. I'd never been to a muggle school before. Mum home schooled me instead. Worst of all, I was going to the same school as Iris. The horror! She'd been awful since I came back. She seemed to find it amusing to annoy the hell out of me.

I dragged myself out of bed. I hate being woken up, especially by Aunt Claudia's sqauky voice. Slowly I pulled on a black skirt, a white shirt and a navy cardigan and ran a brush through my hair. Then I went downstairs. Uncle Maurice was sitting at the table reading a paper, Aunt Claudia was flitting around the kitchen making Uncle Maurice a fried breakfast and Iris was sitting eating cereal whilst watching TV. I quietly made myself a bowl of coco-pops (mmmmm coco-pops) and sat down next to Iris.

When we finished, me and Iris grabbed our bags and slowly walked to school. The whole way, Iris bugged me about everything sh could think up, so mainly my parents and I stayed silent, hardly listening. When we got to school, Iris stalked of to a group of giggling girls in the playground. I stood by the gates, feeling scared and not sure what to do. I heard laughs and looked up. Iris and her friends were laughing at a girl with bushy brown hair, who's bag had spilled open and who's books and pencils were all on the ground. Stupid cows.

I walked over and knelt down to help the girl, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. Poor thing. She looked up, surprised to see someone helping her. I smiled and the girl gave a small smile back. Together we gathered up the books and pencils and then walked over to a bench.

"I'm Ruby," I said once we sat down.

"I'm Hermione," the girl said while making sure that her bag was completely zipped up.

I looked at her properly. She had chocolate eyes and quite large front teeth.

"I'm new. This is my first day. Do we all need that many books?" I asked.

Hermione laughed slightly. "No, I just have a few extra for reading." Yay, she reads lots, like me, I thought. "People don't really talk to me. How old are you?"

"8... nearly 9," I said, my birthday was in a few weeks. I was exited for cake.

"I'm 9 next week," smiled Hermione.

The bell rang and Hermione showed me where to put my bag and where the classroom was. I stood by the teacher's desk and waited to be given a seat. The teacher was a smiley woman in her mid- thirties with dull brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She sat me in the only spare seat, which was next to Hermione. I had no complaints there. Hermione smiled as I sat down and I smiled back. Maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all.


	4. From Garfield on a Monday to HAPPY HAPPY

** 3 years later **

** Ruby's POV **

I sat at the small table at Uncle Remus's house. It was a few days after the full moon and I was going back to the Evans' house that day. It was the summer holidays so I din't have school to escape to and I thought I might have to spend the afternoon in the house with Iris so I was in a bit of a "Kill me now" sort of mood and on top of that, it was a morning. Basically, I was Garfield on a Monday.

A tapping noise on the window brought me from my moping. Grr, leave me to my moping, tapping noise, I thought. I looked up and saw a tawny owl sitting outside the window, tapping on the glass. I got up and let it in. It had a heavy parchment envelope attached to it's leg. I untied it and the owl flew off. I looked down at it. It was sealed in purple wax with a crest stamped into it. It had the letter "H" in the middle and a lion, a snake, a badger and a raven around it. It seemed familiar but I couldn't quite remember where I'd seen it. I turned it over and saw my name written in emerald ink.

I opened the envelope and pulled out a letter written on the same heavy parchment that the envelope was made of. It read:

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**

**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards) **

**Dear Miss. Evans,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. **

**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall**

**Deputy Headmistress**

**P.S. Arrangements have been made for you during full moons. They will be explained to you when you arive.**

I let out a squeal. I'd wanted to go to Hogwarts since I was 6 and my mother told me about her own years there. Uncle Moony came in.

"What's all the noise about?" he asked sleepily.

"I got my Hogwarts letter," I said, not Garfieldish anymore.

Remus chuckled quietly at the huge grin on my face. He looked at the letter and equipment list. "I'll take you to Diagon alley in a couple of weeks to get your supplies." Yay Diagon Alley. I'd always wanted to go there too.

"We also need to go and see Dumbledore to explain the situation." My mood dropped considerably. I really wasn't looking forward to going and explaining how the ministry thought I was a werewolf when actually I was an illegal animagus, even if it wasn't my fault it was illegal. I was scared I would get myself and Uncle Moony in trouble. Even he seemed a bit nervous.

I sat on my bed and read my letter and list for the twentieth time that day.

"Ruby, a phone call for you," came Aunt Claudia's voice from downstairs. I bounded downstairs, earning a disaproving look from my aunt. I took the phone with a small grin.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hi, Ruby," said Hermione from the other end of the phone. "Do you want to come round for a little while? I've got something to tell you." Yay, escape.

Half an hour later, we were sitting on Hermione's bed among her rather large collection of stuffed toys, munching chocolate biscuits. Nom nom nom, chocolate biscuits.

"What did you want to tell me?" I asked curiously.

"I'm going to a boarding school next year. I got a letter about it today." said Hermione in a voice that was sad but I could tell she was exited.

"Me too." I said. "At least neither of us will have to put up with Iris at school here." I'd been quite worried about Hermione having to suffer with her. She looked a little less sad. "I'm off to get more biscuits," she said and left. That was sudden. Oh well, more chocolate biscuits equals NOM! I like food, in case you didn't notice. Especially chocolate. And pancakes. And Jelly Beans. And cake... mmmmm cake. Where was I? Oh yeah.

I glanced around the room and my eyes fell on a corner of yellowish parchment which was sticking out of a drawer. I'm a nosy bugger so I pulled it out and saw it was a Hogwarts acceptance letter addressed to Miss. H. Granger. Hermione came back in carrying a packet of chocolate digestives and I pounced on her, letting out a squeal in her ear. She dropped the biscuits in surprise. Poor biscuits, "sniff sniff ".

"Calm down, Ruby," she said, getting over the shock of being jumped on. "What's up?"

"YOUR GOING TO HOGWARTS!" I shrieked excitedly.

"What?" said Hermione, not quite understanding what I was saying, well shrieking.

"YOUR GOING TO HOGWARTS! YOUR A WITCH!"

"How did you know... oh." She spotted the letter in my hand. "You weren't supposed to read that."

"It's okay," I said with a grin. "I'm a witch too and I got my letter today too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My parents were too, and my godfather."

"I won't have to go alone and have no friends again." beamed Hermione.

"We can go to Diagon Alley together too, to get our equipment. I'm so happy you're coming too." We chatted excitedly and I told her all about the wizarding world, well what I knew of it, for the next few hours and then I reluctantly went back to the Evans' house.

"Come on, come on, come on!" I bounced up and down in the hallway while Uncle Moony got ready to go. He smiled and shook his head at my excitement. I had a right to be exited. "Mental sticking tongue out at him" We were about to go to Diagon Alley to buy my school supplies. I wanted to go with Hermione but her parents had to work while I was staying with Remus and they had wanted to take her.

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!"

"Okay, okay. I'm ready"

"Yay!" I cheered, I'd been ready for half an hour already. I walked up to the fireplace, took a small handful of floo powder, threw it into the fire and called "Diagon Alley" as I walked through. I emerged in a bookshop that was full of mainly Hogwarts students of various ages and their parents. Remus appeared behind me and we headed out into the street.

My eyes went wide as I took in my surroundings. I'd never seen such a wonderful place! There were brightly coloured shops selling nearly everything I could imagine, and some things I'd never even thought of. There were shops that sold broomsticks and other quidditch supplies, robes, telescopes, books, parchment, animals, quills, potions and so many other things too.

Gringotts, the wizard bank, was a snow white building, bigger than anything else in the alley. It had burnished bronze doors with goblins in red and gold uniforms standing outside. Behind the bronze doors was a second pair of doors, although these were silver. Words were engraved on them:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

Through the silver doors was a huge marble hall. More goblins than I could count sat on high stools behind a long counter, writing in ledgers, weighing money on brass scales and examining precious stones. Many doors lead of from the hall and more goblins were showing people in and out of these.

"Have you got your key, Ruby?" Moony asked, looking down at me.

"Of course," I said, pulling a small bronze key from my pocket. It was the key to my vault, which had all the money from my mother's vault in it and some from my father's too so there would be plenty money in there to buy all the supplies I needed and more. I gave the key to a goblin called Rocksnatch and he showed us through one of the doors. It lead to a narrow stone passage which was lit with torches. After a minute, we came to some railway tracks and stopped. Rocksnatch whistled and a cart came hurtling down the track and came to a stop in front of us. We climbed in and the cart moved quickly down the track.

I grinned as we hurtled through a maze of twisting, turning passages. It was like a roller-coaster. Too soon we came to a stop and clambered out. I pouted and then laughed at Uncle Moony, who was looking quite green. Rocksnatch put my key into a small door that lead off from the passage way. The door opened and some green smoke billowed out of the vault making me cough. It cleared revealing piles of gold, silver and bronze coins. I quickly filled a little bag with enough coins to buy my school supplies and a bit more to last me for the rest of the year.

After visiting Remus's vault, which was quite a bit emptier than mine and another cart ride (Yay!), we left Gringotts. First we went to _Madam Malkin's robes for All Occasions._ Remus went to buy some of my other supplies while I was ushered into the back of the shop by Madam Malkin, a squat, smiling witch in mauve robes. There were two boys there getting Hogwarts robes fitted two. One had a pale pointed face and blonde hair. I recognised him as my second cousin, Draco Malfoy, even though I hadn't seen him for about a year. He was saying something about brooms to the other boy, who had messy black hair and glasses that had been broken several times and repaired with tape. The boy didn't look like he had a clue what Draco was talking about. He's probably muggleborn, or at least has grown up with muggles, I thought.

A witch stood me on a stool, pulled some large black robes over my head and began to adjust them. Draco was still talking to the dark haired boy, who answered no to the questions he was being asked.

"Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and i must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?" Draco was saying, he appeared to have not noticed me come in.

"No," replied the dark haired boy.

"What about you?" asked Draco, looking at me for the first time. "Oh, hello Ruby. You'll be hoping for Slytherin like the rest of the family then?"

"My parents were both in Gryfindor and you know that." He gave me a disapproving look, but of course, that side of my family is mainly pureblood-mania Slytherins.

"Well, no one really knows till they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being put in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"My dad's your mother's cousin and he was in Gryffindor. And cousin Dora was in Hufflepuff and she's training to be an auror now"

"Well, they don't really count as the family though," Draco said, making a face.

I was about to have a go at him when I saw the dark haired boy's face. He looked quite confused. Aaww, bless his little cotton socks. I looked at him closely. I was sure I'd seen him before somewhere.

"I say, look at that man!" said Draco suddenly, nodding towards the front window. A huge man with wild dark hair and a huge beard was standing there holding two ice-creams.

"That's Hagrid. He works at Hogwarts," said the other boy, looking quite pleased that he knew something we didn't.

"Oh. I've heard of him. He's sort of a servant, isn't he?" said Draco.

"He's the gamekeeper," I said at the exact same time as the dark haired boy. We looked at each other and I grinned.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of _savage _— lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"I think he's brilliant," said the dark haired boy coldly. I smiled at that.

"_Do _you?" said Draco, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," said the boy shortly. I was sure I knew him from somewhere.

"Oh, sorry," said Draco, not sounding sorry at all. Git. "But they were _our _kind, weren't they?"

"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean." I looked at the boy's forehead. I could just make out a lightning shaped scar through his hair. My eyes widened. He was Harry Potter, my cousin. I stood there, shocked and not able to speak.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?" I would have rolled my eyes at my cousin if I hadn't still been in shock. Stupid Pureblood-mania.

"That's you done dear," said the witch who was adjusting Harry's robes. Before I could say anything to him, he was gone.

After I bought my robes, I went to buy my books in_ Flourish and Blotts. I_ spent quite a long time in there looking at all the books. It was wonderful. There were books on everything imaginable. I eventually decided to buy myself _Hogwarts, a History_, _A Study of Recent Magical History_ and _The Animal Inside: Werewolves and Animagi_, as well as my school books.

Then I went and bought some parchment and a few quills, including a bright purple one and a bright pink and black striped one. I found some invisible ink and some sparkly purple ink which I bought for fun as well as some black ink for school, then I met up with Uncle Moony again. I checked my list. Between us, we had bought everything except a wand and a pet.

"Right, off to _Olivanders_ then," said Uncle Moony.

"Which way is it?" I asked.

"Just over there," he answered, pointing at a shop in the distance. I looked and then skipped off down the street towards it. _Olivanders_ was a narrow, shabby looking shop with peeling gold letters over the door that said, "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC." It looks like it hasn't been repainted since then, I thought, grinning. Once Uncle Moony caught up with me, we went inside.

When I pushed the door open, I heard a little bell sound from somewhere in the shop. It was a tiny shop. The only thing in it was a spindly chair. Remus sat on the chair to wait. I looked at the piles of small boxes that went right up to the ceiling.

"Good Afternoon," said a soft voice behind me, making me jump and let out a small squeak. A man with wide, pale eyes had appeared and was staring at me.

"Hello," I said, startled.

"I thought I'd be seeing you soon, Miss Black. You look quite like your father."

"Evans," I said. I could feel a blush reaching my face. Do I really look so much like Dad that people could recognise me instantly?

"Sorry?" Mr Ollivander asked.

"Ruby Evans," I said.

"Aah, of course, you use your mother's name." I nodded. "I remember when she was in here buying her wand. Ten and a half inches, ash and unicorn hair. Particularly good for charms." I was quite surprised he remembered that. But he had more, "Your father's however was red oakoak and dragon heartstring. Eleven and three quarter inches, very good duelling wand." I looked slightly uncomfortable at the mention of my Dad. As I said already, I don't like to talk about him.

"Lets find you a wand then shall we," he said, pulling a tape measure out of his pocket. "Hold out your wand arm." I held out my right arm and Ollivander measured shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, then shoulder to floor, then knee to armpit. The tape measure magically measured round my head while Ollivander looked through piles of boxes. The tape measure kept measuring things like between my nostrils and round my waist until Ollivander told it "That will do" and returned with a small pile of boxes.

He pulled out a wand and passed it to me. "Holly and dragon heartstring, eleven inches." I held it for two seconds and then he snatched it back and replaced it with another, then another, then another. I held a dozen wands with no success. Ollivander then pulled a dusty red box from the back of the shop and opened it. "Rowan and Phoenix feather, eleven and a half inches. Very good for duelling and defensive and particullarly hard to turn to dark magic." He passed it to me. It was a beautiful wand, polished with carved roses winding up it. A warm feeling passed through my hand and I held the wand up. Two ribbons, one black and one red, shot out the end. "Yes that would be the one. Quite curious actually. The phoenix who's feather is in that wand was the sister of the phoenix who gave the feather for a wand which I sold to a young Mr Potter earlier on today. He is your cousin, is he not?"

"Yes, he is," I said with a smile. I was quite amused by that random fact. I payed six galleons and 10 sickles for my wand and left with a smile on my face.

"As an early birthday present I thought I'd buy you a pet," said Uncle Moony as we were walking down the street. My eyes lit up.

"Really?" I asked with a huge grin.

"Yes, do you want an owl, a cat or a toad? I wouldn't get a toad. Students haven't really brought toads for a long time. You'll get laughed at."

"I think I'd like a cat. The school has owls I can use when I need them." We went into _The Magical Menagerie _and came out with a beautiful little black kitten. I named her Polaris because she had a random white patch on her nose which looked like a bright star on a black sky.

The next day Uncle Moony woke me up about 9am. I rolled over and pulled to duvet over my head.

"Come on. Time to get up. We have to go and see Dumbledore."

I groaned then sat up. Satisfied that I was awake, Moony left. I slowly got up and pulled on some black skinny jeans, a black and bright purple striped top and some purple converse. Then I dragged a brush through my hair. I looked in the mirror. I saw a girl with a pale face with a few feint scars, grey almond shaped eyes and thick black curls. I skrewed up my eyes and focused. When I opened my eyes, my hair was perfectly straight and my eyes were a very dark grey.

Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention, I'm an almost metamorphmagus. Most people who are a metamorphmagus can change pretty much everything about their appearance to whatever they like. So they can go from short, straight black hair, green eyes, thin and pale to long bright pink curly hair, brown eyes, fat and dark skinned. My cousin, Dora, can do that, but I can only change my hair to any natural colour, straight or curly, fade my scars a bit and make my eyes various shades of black and grey. I'm trying to learn to develop it a bit and control it because when I have really strong emotions, my hair and eyes change colour. It really freaks people out; it's quite funny.

After breakfast, we walked up to the fireplace in the living room. Remus offered me a pot from the mantelpiece which was full of glittering powder. I took a small handful and threw it into the flames, which instantly turned green. I stepped in and clearly said "Hogwarts". I closed my eyes and then had a weird feeling, like being sucked down a plug hole. I span very fast for a minute then fell forwards onto a hard floor. I stood up, dusted myself off and stepped away from the fireplace so I wouldn't be knocked over when Uncle Moony arrived.

I looked around the room I was now in. It was large and circular with weird little noises coming from all over the place. A few funny looking silver instruments stood on spindly tables, making whirring sounds and giving off puffs of coloured smoke. The walls were covered in paintings of people, who I assumed were previous headmasters and mistresses. Opposite the door, there was a large claw-footed desk with sheets of parchment, quills and bottles of ink covering it. Behind the desk, there was a shelf, filled with books and a tatty wizard's hat, and a golden perch with a golden plate beneath it.

Uncle Moony appeared behind me and we waited quietly for Professor Dumbledore to arrive.

A door next to the desk opened and a tall man with purple robes, a matching hat, white hair and a white beard which were both long enough to tuck into a belt. He had twinkling blue eyes and smiled when he saw us.

"Hello Remus, and you must be Ruby," he said, sitting down at his desk. "Have a seat."

We sat on two chairs which had appeared on the opposite side of the desk from him.

"I believe you wanted to discuss the arrangements for Ruby's lycanthropy."

"Yes, well, err... The thing is, she... err... doesn't exactly have it," Uncle Moony said, rubbing the back of his neck. Dumbledore looked curiously at him.

"Was she not bitten three years ago? She is registered as a werewolf at the ministry."

"Well, yes, but..." I shook my head and rolled my eyes at Moony's failed attempt at explaining.

"I was bitten, but I didn't become a werewolf. We think it's because, for some reason, I'm an animagus. The ministry doesn't know because then I would have to stay with my muggle family, and I don't like them so I made Remus not tell," I said quite quickly, wanting to get it all out quickly so I could find out what was going to happen. Dumbledore looked quite surprised for a moment. Moony looked guilty.

"An animagus? But you're only 11."

I nodded. "I think I was born one. I found out when I was 8. It's how I escaped the werewolf that bit me too."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "Would you mind showing me?"

I nodded again then stood up and walked back a bit from the desk. I closed my eyes to focus and when I opened them, I was a smallish black dog. I transformed back and sat down in the chair again. Dumbledore looked thoughtful again.

"Only a few teachers were told you were a werewolf. They will be re-informed but I see no reason to bring the ministry in," he said with a smile. I grinned.

"So we're not in any trouble or anything?" I asked. Dumbledore shook his head, eyes twinkling and I grinned wider.


	5. I was an awesome 6 year old

1st September 1991

I sat in the back of the Grangers' car next to Hermione, chatting excitedly to her about what was happening that day. I was in black jeans, red ballet pumps and a red and gold top because I was hoping for Gryffindor. At that moment, me and Hermione were discussing Hogwarts houses.

"I think Gryffindor sounds the best," she said, "but Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad."

"I want to be in Gryffindor," I said. "Both my parents were in there, and my godparents too."

We pulled into the car park for the station and jumped out of the car. I rocked back and forward on my feet in excitement while Mr Granger got our trunks out of the boot then went to get some trolleys. Hermione didn't have a pet, but I had Polaris in a little basket which had been sitting between me and Hermione in the back. I sat in on the trolley on top of my trunk then walked with Hermione while her parents pushed the trolleys.

"What platform number was it, dear?" asked Mrs Granger.

"Nine and three quarters," me and Hermione chorused back.

"Are you sure? I don't think platforms have three quarters."

"It's hidden so people don't get on the wrong train and end up in Hogwarts by mistake and find out about magic," I told her. "We need to go to platform 9 and 10." We walked up to the platform and then after checking nobody else was watching, I took my trolley and walked quickly at the barrier. I passed through easily and emerged onto a platform where a scarlet steam engine was waiting. It was packed with parents seeing there children off to school. The Grangers appeared behind me and helped me and Hermione load our trunks. Hermione kissed her parents goodbye and then we climbed aboard the train and looked for a compartment. We found an empty one in near the end of the train and took the two seats near the window. Hermione waved and smiled at her parents and I sat stroking Polaris, who hadn't liked the basket.

The door slid open and a round faced boy asked, "Hi, Ruby. Do you mind if I sit in here? I can't find anywhere else." I smiled and nodded.

"Hermione this is Neville Longbottom. Neville, Hermione Granger. My mum was friends with Neville's when they were at Hogwarts and our Grandmothers were friends so I've been round at his house a few times. Hermione's my best friend from muggle school."

We all chatted to each other for a while. I hadn't seen Neville since my Mum died. Neville was a pureblood, but didn't care. He lived with his grandmother, who wanted him to be in Gryffindor, like his dad. He thought he'd be better off in Hufflepuff. After a little while, an old witch came round with a trolley full of sweets. I bought myself a carton of pumpkin juice, some Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, some Pumpkin Pasties and my favourite, Chocolate Frogs. The others bought a similar selection and we sat munching and chatting. Then Hermione decided she was too exited and wanted to put on her robes, so me and her went of to the toilets and changed into white shirts, black skirts and robes, then made our way back to the compartment.

After a little while, Neville suddenly cried out. We all looked at him, alarmed.

"Neville, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Trevor, my toad's gone missing. He was a present from my great uncle for getting my Hogwarts letter."

"It's ok. If you had him when you got on the train, he can't have gone too far. We'll help you look," Hermione said. We searched the compartment then started to ask people in other compartments.

After a few minutes, we came to a compartment with two boys sitting in it. One with red hair and one with black. Both were skinny but one was quite tall and one quite small. The red haired one had his wand out.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," said Hermione.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said the red haired boy, but Hermione wasn't listening. She had spotted the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down and the boy looked slightly taken aback.

"Er - all right." He cleared his throat and pointed his wand at his pet rat on his knee.

"Sunshine, Daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." He waved his wand, and nothing happened.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" Hermione asked. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

I laughed at the stunned looks on all three boys faces and at Hermione. "Trust you to learn the books, 'Mione. It'll be more than enough and you'll be top of every class like always. I'm Ruby Evans and this is Neville Longbottom."

The boys looked slightly relieved at the fact Hermione normally went over board.

"I'm Ron Weasley," said the red haired boy with the rat.

"I'm Harry Potter," said the other. I mentally scolded myself for not recognising him like I had done a month earlier.

"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Am I?" said Harry, dazed. I felt sorry for him. He had grown up with muggles so didn't know how famous he was.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… "

"Hermione, breath," I said grinning at her. She rolled her eyes at me. Harry was giving me a strange look. I looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Do I know you from somewhere," he asked. I smiled.

"Yup yup," I said, "Madam Malkin's a..."

"Yeah but somewhere else too," he cut in.

"And we're second cousins," I finished. Everyone looked at me shocked.

"Ruby Andromeda Evans! Why didn't you tell me that. He's in loads of books," Hermione said.

"Never came up," I shrugged.

"Oh yeah," said Harry, "You were at that family reunion thing a few years ago."

"Yup," I said, "and I slapped Dudley Dursley for bullying you and he ran off crying. I didn't even get into any trouble for that because I pretended to be an innocent little 6 year old and made myself cry when I got accused. I think Dudley got into more trouble for making a scene." I grinned at the memory of my 6 year old awesomeness.

Harry grinned back, "That was really funny."

"Well, we better get back to looking for Neville's toad. You might want to get into your robes because we're nearly there. See you guys later," I said and we left. We found Trevor just outside their compartment and went back to our own. After a little while, a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately." Not long after, the train stopped. We climbed onto a crowded platform and heard a voice call, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" I saw Hagrid and grabbed Neville and Hermione's wrists to pull them towards him. "C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

We all slipped and stumbled up a dark path. Everyone was silent except for Neville, who sniffed a few times because Trevor had gotten away again. It was too quiet and I had a sudden urge to shout "Chocolate Frogs!", just to stop it being quiet, but I couldn't find my voice.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!" from all the first years.

The dark path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a huge black lake. Perched on a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n five to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Me, Hermione and Neville found ourselves in a boat with Harry and Ron. I smiled at them as we sat down.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over us as we sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; we all bent their heads and the little boats carried us through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. We were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking us right underneath the castle, until we reached a kind of underground harbor, where we climbed out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville happily, holding out his hands. Then we clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Neville nodded.

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


End file.
